Physical Education/Swimming update for November, 2011

We have had another great month in PE and Swimming! We practiced our basketball skills at all levels, focusing on correct form for dribbling, passing and shooting and adding in layups, defense, and games in the 4.5’s and MS. All students showed tremendous improvement throughout the course of this unit.

In swimming we have continued to work on front crawl and back crawl and added in the elementary back stroke for the 2.3’s and 4.5’s. The students are working very hard with 77% of 2.3’s as deep end swimmers and 92% of 4.5’s. We really strive to help students pass this test because we feel confident that if they ever found themselves in a sticky situation the knowledge and skills required to pass this test could help them save their lives. The K/1’s are working hard as well as we have 4 deep end swimmers and 5 middle area swimmers! We have been focusing on breathing and kicking with this age group.

Coming up in PE this month for the K/1’s will be locomotor skills (skipping, galloping, jumping, hopping, leaping, sliding). These skills should be in complete, mature form by the end of 2nd grade. The other levels will begin learning a sport called pickleball. Pickleball is a played on a court similar to a badminton court and uses a racquet made of wood or plastic (we have plastic racquets). It uses a heavier type of whiffle ball and is usually played 2 vs 2. We will have 2 courts and will play 4 vs. 4 to allow everyone ample playing time. Check out this link to learn more about pickleball: http://www.usapa.org/ .

Field hockey has wrapped up the season with an astounding record of 7-3-1! We really pulled together as a team and worked hard to accomplish our goals. If your child in interested in playing field hockey there are plenty of opportunities to continue or start playing before the beginning of the fall season. Check out usafieldhockey.com , pinnaclefieldhockey.com , and the Ann Arbors rec and ed homepage. Thanks for all of your support!